FEAR, FAITH and FAT BIRDS

Thought’s for Today…Jesus made an interesting, actually confusing, statement in the middle of one of his sermons. It was one of those statements a preacher makes in passing, then moves on leaving the audience scratching their head. No explanation, no expounding, just a 5-second truth bomb dropped like only a man referred to as the “great teacher” could do. What was the statement?

Matthew 6:25-26 Do not worry about your life… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable?

See what I mean? Maybe you read what Jesus said in Matthew 6 and think “Really Jesus? I’m worried about something big in my life, and all you can say is “Look at the birds of the air?” But as is often the case when Jesus speaks, there’s more to the story than what we initially hear.

Worry and fear are powerful emotions. You know intellectually you have nothing to fear with God on your side, but in difficult moments you’re still gripped by fear and worried about tomorrow.

I did some research, because if Jesus wanted to use birds to illustrate why I shouldn’t worry there must have been an important reason.

Did you know when birds migrate they have to elevate higher than usual in order for the wind to carry them? On their own, they don’t have enough strength to fly the whole distance, so to compensate they get as high as possible and glide as much as they can. That works for the standard size birds, but it presents a problem for a fat bird. Certain birds that weigh too much and can’t fly high enough to get assistance from the wind have to wake up early in the morning and use the heat from the ground to lift them up. The skinny birds sleep in and catch up later, but the only way the fat bird can migrate is to use the heat from the ground in the morning.

So think about this. Before God created birds, he knew the fat birds would need help migrating every winter. Not only did he create birds he created heat to rise from the ground early in the morning.

God knows what you need, and He knows when you need it. He’s working on a million other things that effect and benefit your life you can’t comprehend. The next time you feel afraid or worry grips your heart, take Jesus’ advice, look at the birds of the air, and remember the fat bird.